I picked up a constellation at an auction a couple years ago. Not sure of the year, but it was almost new. Came with most tools. When I worked at the Hoover company, for quite a few years my department made the wand and tube assemblies for all the Hoover products. I also ran the anodizing process for the aluminum tubing, before plastic came into play,
Sounds like interesting work, and I assume your department also made the attachment end for the hose. If you give us the model number or color of your Connie someone here can probably tell you when it was made. I actually have 3 of them myself, besides my Grandma's model 82 I also have a model 84 from 1956 or 57, and an 858 from the early 70's. You've already seen the pics of the 82, below are pics of the 84 and 858. The 858 is actually a family vac too, as Mom bought it at a sale one of the tenants was having in the apartment complex she used to manage, along with a 350 Filter Queen, also pictured below.
I agree that this could become a new addiction or obsession for you! When I first heard of collecting vacuums, I already had an accumulation of 8-10 of them, and I wondered "why would anyone collect vacuum cleaners?" But the more I thought about it, I thought "Why not!?"
First, it's a part of history many people are not aware of.
Second, it's an interesting study of design development, and how different makes have evolved over the years.
Third, as you noted, they don't take up as much space as cars. You could get quite a few of them in the space it would take for one vintage car.
Fourth, you can get several vacs for what it would cost for one vintage car, sometimes even for free!
And finally, as you will find out from experience while restoring your Electro-Hygiene, you can get just as much enjoyment from restoring a vintage vacuum cleaner as you would from restoring a car!
But along with this, I also have two warnings for you, first is that it's well known among collectors that vacuums are known to multiply like rabbits!
And second, is that after you've been collecting for a while, you don't even have to look for them anymore--they find you!
As for the spring cap on the red part of the 94, it is the crystal chamber cover, and part of what sets the Electro-Hygiene apart from the Royal. In 1905 Philip A. Geier founded the P.a. Geier Company in Cleveland, OH, originally as a job-order machine shop. When he started into manufacturing, his first products were parts for punch presses, and eventually building his own line of punch presses. In either 1910 or 1912, he hand-built his first Royal vacuum cleaner--I've heard both years used for the start and don't really know which year is right. The vacuums were so popular that he eventually dropped out of the punch press business to concentrate solely on vacuum cleaners, and by the late 20's the line had developed into 3 models: The Standard, the Super, and the Purifier, which had a chamber to put crystals in for deodorizing and sanitizing as you cleaned. A salesman named Arthur Frankenfeld came to work for him, and with his charisma could sell the Purifier like no other. Between the two of them they came up with the idea to roll out the Purifier as a separate brand, and in March of 1934 Electro-Hygiene was born as a wholly owned subsidiary of the P.A. Geier Company, with Art Frankenfeld heading the division, and the model 80 being the first one, replaced by the 94 in 1938 or 39.
So basically, the red part is the crystal chamber, and the spring cap is the cover that snaps on and off. You'll also notice that cover is in two pieces that should be able to slide back & forth with small holes in them, which is to control the amount of air that is drawn through the crystals. Even with it in the wide-open position it doesn't seem to affect the suction and airflow much. The crystals they recommended and sold for it were 99.6% paradichlorobenzene and 0.4% formaldehyde, which I'm sure you wouldn't want to use in it today. Even after Royal had developed revolving brush models, Electro-Hygiene remained straight suction, as the crystals and chamber were what set it apart, and they didn't know where to put the chamber. Then in 1955, the model 285 was introduced, almost identical to the 801 Royal, and they had solved the problem by developing a crystal chamber that would snap on the front of the nozzle in place of the Adjust-O-Rite belt cover. The oldest of my 285's is also pictured below. Hope you found the "history lesson" interesting, and wishing you the best of luck in your restoration!
Jeff
